April 16 – Psalm 6; Proverbs 28; Jeremiah 31

Psalm 6

 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger

or discipline me in your wrath.

2Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint;

heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.

3My soul is in deep anguish.

How long, Lord, how long?

4Turn, Lord, and deliver me;

save me because of your unfailing love.

5Among the dead no one proclaims your name.

Who praises you from the grave?

6I am worn out from my groaning.

All night long I flood my bed with weeping

and drench my couch with tears.

7My eyes grow weak with sorrow;

they fail because of all my foes.

Proverbs 28:13

Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper,

but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

Jeremiah 31:16-17

16This is what the Lord says:

“Restrain your voice from weeping

and your eyes from tears,

for your work will be rewarded,”

declares the Lord.

“They will return from the land of the enemy.

17So there is hope for your descendants,”

declares the Lord.

“Your children will return to their own land.

Jeremiah 31:31-33

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,

“when I will make a new covenant

with the people of Israel

and with the people of Judah.

32It will not be like the covenant

I made with their ancestors

when I took them by the hand

to lead them out of Egypt,

because they broke my covenant,

though I was a husband to them,”

declares the Lord.

33“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel

after that time,” declares the Lord.

“I will put my law in their minds

and write it on their hearts.

I will be their God,

and they will be my people.

The Place Of Bitter Tears

The Lord makes the topic of bitter tears a significant emphasis in Scripture. Our passage today from Psalm 6 illustrates how David lamented his anguish before the Lord. Such honesty helped him to understand and overcome his bitter circumstances.

In God’s Word, we see that bitter tears can motivate us to find direction. The book of Esther tells the amazing story of a Jewish man named Mordecai and his cousin, Esther. Their joint heroism rescues God’s chosen people from certain annihilation. In the early chapters of the book, the chief antagonist, Haman, a high-ranking Persian official, convinces the king that all the Jews in his country should be executed. Scripture tells us, “When Mordecai learned all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city and wailed loudly and bitterly” (Esther 4:1).

Is that how a godly man behaves—and in public, no less? Apparently. Mordecai loves the Lord and his people too much to ignore the pain and heartache of this wicked abuse. Practicing spiritual candor, which may include shedding bitter tears, provides clarity and direction for what we should say and do next, even when the storm is raging.

Second, bitter tears can motivate us to admit wrong and prepare to move forward. Scripture tells us, “And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, ‘Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly” (Matthew 26:75).

This was the beginning of a turning point in Peter’s life and subsequent ministry. Peter’s bitter tears of remorse helped him face his weakness and sin in a way that prepared him for repentance, confession, and forgiveness.

Lastly, bitter tears can motivate us to remember that only our future will be fully satisfying (Jeremiah 31:16–17, 31-33). This passage helps us understand the value and purpose of bitter tears. Scripture motivates us to acknowledge the brokenness of our sin-cursed world and cause us to place our hope in the future the Lord has prepared for us.

The ultimate hope as we shed bitter tears is the salvation that comes through Christ’s death and resurrection, knowing “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

How can failing to shed bitter tears result in sinful bitterness of heart and life? 

We would like to thank Baker Publishing for providing this plan.

February 3 – Wait, who? – Elishama

Read Jeremiah 36:12

One of the greatest opportunities I have ever had was traveling to Israel and “walking where Jesus walked”. This once in a lifetime opportunity came at the culmination of a 10-month period of studying the Bible at the Great Commission Bible Institute out of Sebring, Florida. God used that time in my life to pull me close to Him. God was doing such a work in my life and it was highlighted by seeing the Bible come alive right before my eyes in the landscape of the Middle East.

There were so many “wow” moments that I don’t have the space to describe. Standing on the very rock where Jesus told Peter that He would build His Church and the gates of Hell, which many thought were below our feet, would not overcome. Standing in the ruins of a house at Caesarea by the Sea where we were told that we were likely standing within 50 feet of where Paul appealed to Caesar in Acts 25.

What?!

What does this have to do with our reading today? What even is our reading about?

We are focusing on Elishama who actually isn’t that interesting. He wasn’t a prophet, king or long-lost disciple of Jesus…he was a secretary.

Why is this so important?

What makes this obscure Bible character interesting is the extra-biblical evidence that we have for him – which in turn speaks to the historical reliability of Scripture.

In 1986, outside of Jerusalem, a clay seal was found that says, “Elishama, servant of the king,” proving that he was indeed a scribe in the exact time setting and situation that Scripture describes. This right here is evidence that all of Scripture is God-breathed, even down to the tiniest detail and seemingly insignificant person!

How do we know the Bible is true? Because it is proven to be accurate over and over again.

Second Timothy 3 tells us that all Scripture is God-breathed and Galatians 3 proves to us that even every pen stroke is inspired by God and important to His message.

The fact that Elishama is mentioned in the Bible and we have hard evidence that, he not only existed but served as a secretary, proves that the Bible is accurate!

What does this mean to you today?

My encouragement to you is to get plugged into God’s Word continually. If you’re reading this, I hope that you are subscribed to Every Day with God in order to receive daily content that is written with the goal of making you a more devoted follower of Christ!

As you read, allow the Spirit of God to touch your heart. How can you change? In what ways can you grow in your faith?

You can trust the Bible because it is living and active (Hebrews 4:12), inspired by God and has the power to change the very landscape of your life and eternity.

How can you soften your heart even more to God’s Word?

Jake Lawson

September 26 – Hard Questions – What does “the Word of the Lord came to me” actually mean?

Read Isaiah 20:3, 30:2 and Jeremiah 37:17

If you know my Dad, you know that he is very logical and matter of fact. I remember a time where I was following a bus to a retreat. I had just lost my debit card so when I got to a toll road, I pulled off the side and found an alternate route to the destination. When I pull up to yet another toll road, I begin to panic. How am I supposed to get there if I can’t pay for the toll? I’m in this car by myself in the dark and I don’t know what to do. My breath gets shortened and as sweat begins to fall, it’s almost like I heard Dad say “You got this, buddy. Take a breath, get control and figure something out.” I had to route the path (which apparently only went through toll roads) and zoom out and run my little blue dot parallel to the outlined path until I got to the resort.

I had heard Dad’s logic and level headedness for so many years that it was almost like he was in the car with me.

In the Old Testament, there is a common theme among the prophets:

“The Word of the Lord came to me…”

What does this actually mean? Was it like Dad seemingly being in the car with me? Did God actually and audially speak to these prophets? Does this same thing still happen today?

First off, it’s important to understand what the role of an Old Testament prophet was. As Moses was preparing his ministry, God told him and Aaron that He would “put my words in his mouth”. This means that these prophets would be a mediator between God and the people, or Pharaoh in Moses’ instance. In Old Testament times, the word of God would come audially (i.e. the burning bush etc.) and their primary goal was to accurately pass on the message to the people to whom they were ministering to. The stress was on the action coming from the divine source not the prophet who was the recipient. As we all know, many followed the command of God while others did not.

Sound familiar?

When Jesus came, He fulfilled the law and the prophets (Matthew 5:17) and became our Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5). Because of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and the sending of the Holy Spirit, we have immediate access to God if we repent of our sins and commit to follow God. We have the access to God that only prophets did back in the day. Also, because of the canonization of the inspired Scripture, there is nothing that prophets can tell us that isn’t already in there.

How amazing is it that we have God with us at all times? Don’t waste this access. Spend time getting to know God and growing in your faith. When you have experience to fall back on, your faith will be strong. Just as I fell back on what I heard my dad say for years, you’d be surprised how God can being truths and lessons to your mind when you need them most.

Jake Lawson

May 3: The God Who Comes Through – He quenches our thirst

Read Exodus 15:22-27 (cf. Jn. 4 and Jer. 2:13)

In these verses the people were physically thirsty but didn’t have any water that was fit to drink.  Once again, Moses prayed and God supplied their needs by having Moses put a piece of wood into the water to make it drinkable. God took care of their physical thirst. 

However, there are more ways people can be thirsty.  There is the physical thirst, but there are also emotional and spiritual thirsts that people don’t often recognize.  There is a thirst to be accepted, to be loved, to be wanted, to be recognized.  Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount talked about people who would hunger and thirst for righteousness. With all the complaining that the Israelites were doing to Moses even after experiencing God’s miraculous power, maybe they were thirsty for something other than just water.

The woman at the well, who met Jesus, was, as the old song title says, Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places. She had been married 5 times and the man she was living with wasn’t her husband.  Since she was at the well in the afternoon instead of the morning like all the other women in the village would have been, she was probably rejected by them and was thirsty to be accepted. She probably put on a “good face” and pretended that their insults and looks didn’t hurt, but they did. She was emotionally thirsty!

Jesus saw through all of it and offered her living water that would quench her thirst, and she would never be thirsty for love and acceptance again.

Just like Moses took the piece of a tree that God had provided out in the desert to make the water sweet again, He supplied a branch off of His own family tree, His son Jesus, to quench her spiritual thirst.

And Jesus is here to quench our thirsts too, if we will let Him.

The Lyrics of the song, Come to the Well, by Casting Crowns says it all:

“I have what you need
But you keep on searchin’
I’ve done all the work
But you keep on workin’
When you’re runnin’ on empty
And you can’t find the remedy
Just come to the well

You can spend your whole life
Chasin’ what’s missing
But that empty inside
It just ain’t gonna listen
When nothing can satisfy
And the world leaves you high and dry
Just come to the well

And all who thirst will thirst no more
And all who search will find what their souls long for

The world will try, but it can never fill
Leave it all behind, and come to the well

So, bring me your heart
No matter how broken
Just come as you are
When your last prayer is spoken
Just rest in my arms a while
You’ll feel the change my child
When you come to the well”

What are you thirsty for? Be honest!  Leave it all behind and just come to the well of Living Water, take a deep drink and thirst no more!

Pat Arnold

October 1 – Living Courageously – Let Go (Let God)

Read Ephesians 4:31-32 and Jeremiah 29:11

In 1519 Hernan Cortes landed in Veracruz, Mexico to conquer the Aztecs and take possession of their vast treasure. Cortes landed with only 600 men. They were outnumbered by the Aztecs who had far superior weaponry and armor. So, what did Cortes do?  He ordered the unthinkable and ordered all the ships that brought them to fight the Aztecs be burnt.  

Why in the world would he do such a thing? 

He did this so his army would have no possible way of retreat.  There was no way for them to get home.  For Cortes and his army, it was either victory or death.  Going back was not an option.  There was no turning back. 

So why do I share all of this with you?  Because you and I need to BURN OUR SHIPS!

There have been way too many times in my life (and perhaps you can relate) when I have said that I have “handed over things to the Lord” or when I claim to have let go of it and put it in the Lord’s hands.  However, too many times I pick it back up.  It could be a time you were wronged that haunts you, a worry, a fear, a habit, a struggle, a hurt, an unhealthy relationship, or countless other things.  I say I have given it to the Lord in faith, only to go back to it and carry it myself. 

We need to take a “victory or death” approach when it comes to the mission that Christ has given us. We spend our lives growing as disciples who make disciples for the glory of Christ.  We can’t go back to our former way of life.  The days of us being bitter, angry and malicious are over.  The days of self-reliance are over. When we become a follow of Jesus, we immediately become a new creation. We are called to love one another and be compassionate and forgiving, just as God forgives us. How can we do that if we are still going back to our ships that are filled with our former way of living? 

I have found that one of the most freeing moments in my life are when I have taken my cares to the foot of the cross and left them there. When I have temporarily taken them there, only to come back later and pick them back up and carry them around myself, I have found pain and further heartache and hurt. 

Can you think of a relationship where someone has wronged you or hurt you and you can’t let go of the pain, no matter how hard you try?  We are commanded by the God of heaven to forgive JUST AS HE FORGAVE US!  We can’t move forward without forgiveness.  And we can’t move forward if we keep going back to our ships. 

No retreat! 

Let’s burn our ships!

Nate Mills

July 2 – Back to the Basics – The Bible

Read Jeremiah 9:23-24 and Proverbs 9:10

Many of you reading this have been in some sort of relationship where you wanted to spend every waking hour with someone.  And when you were not together, you would talk on the phone for hours on end.  Some of you may even remember life prior to cell phones and the ancient technique of writing a love letter. Can you remember the joy of opening up that love letter?  You couldn’t wait to hear from your loved one.  You couldn’t wait to learn more about them and fall further in love with them. 

If we claim to love God more than anyone or anything else, then why do we struggle to spend time in His love letter to us, His Word?  Sadly, I’ve heard many friends over the years tell me how they wish they just had the time to get into the Bible. However, they had plenty of time to watch the game, work on their hobby, and binge watch the next show on Netflix. 

And yet you say you love God?  And you don’t want to hear from Him? 

The Bible is the revelation of the character and will of God.  It tells us who He is and how we can live in relationship to Him. Not only does it reveal to us who God is but it also describes who we are, our human existence and why we are here on earth, where we are going and why it matters.

It is not just enough to know things about God but KNOWING Him means everything – the type of intimate knowledge that a husband and wife have for each other. A couple know the likes and dislikes of their spouse.  What they love, what they hate.  And the great thing about the Bible is that it teaches us the attributes of God, the characteristics of God and He never changes.  His Word never changes.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 says:

“This is what the Lord says:

‘The wise person should not boast in his wisdom;

the strong should not boast in his strength;

the wealthy should not boast in his wealth.

But the one who boasts should boast in this:

that he understands and knows me —

that I am the Lord, showing faithful love,

justice, and righteousness on the earth,

for I delight in these things.’

This is the Lord’s declaration.”

Proverbs 9:10 says:

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,

and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

We come to know Him through his Word.

I could go on about Scripture verses that point out the importance of knowing Him.  One of my favorite quotes is from C.H. Spurgeon who said “a Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t”. 

Brush the dust off of your Bible!  Set a time aside to study it daily.  Study it to know Him more and more daily. 

Make it a priority.

If you need a reminder to do it, let me ask you this: what is stealing time away from the Lord?  Is it the TV?  Set your Bible on the remote.  Is it video games?  Set your Bible on your gaming station.  Spending too much time on social media?  Put the Bible app where your social media apps once were. 

How much do you love the Lord?  Do you want to know Him more?  The Bible is a great way to spend time with Him daily.

Nate Mills

June 11 – Wait, who? – Elishama

Read Jeremiah 36:12

One of the greatest opportunities I have ever had was traveling to Israel and “walking where Jesus walked”. This once in a lifetime opportunity came at the culmination of a 10-month period of studying the Bible at the Great Commission Bible Institute out of Sebring, Florida. God used that time in my life to pull me close to Him. God was doing such a work in my life and it was highlighted by seeing the Bible come alive right before my eyes in the landscape of the Middle East.

There were so many “wow” moments that I don’t have the space to describe. Standing on the very rock where Jesus told Peter that He would build His Church and the gates of Hell, which many thought were below our feet, would not overcome. Standing in the ruins of a house at Caesarea by the Sea where we were told that we were likely standing within 50 feet of where Paul appealed to Caesar in Acts 25.

What?!

What does this have to do with our reading today? What even is our reading about?

We are focusing on Elishama who actually isn’t that interesting. He wasn’t a prophet, king or long-lost disciple of Jesus…he was a secretary.

Why is this so important?

What makes this obscure Bible character interesting is the extra-biblical evidence that we have for him – which in turn speaks to the historical reliability of Scripture.

In 1986, outside of Jerusalem, a clay seal was found that says, “Elishama, servant of the king,” proving that he was indeed a scribe in the exact time setting and situation that Scripture describes. This right here is evidence that all of Scripture is God-breathed, even down to the tiniest detail and seemingly insignificant person!

How do we know the Bible is true? Because it is proven to be accurate over and over again.

Second Timothy 3 tells us that all Scripture is God breathed and Galatians 3 proves to us that even every pen stroke is inspired by God and important to His message.

The fact that Elishama is mentioned in the Bible and we have hard evidence that he not only existed but served as a secretary, proves that the Bible is accurate!

What does this mean to you today?

My encouragement to you is to get plugged into God’s Word continually. If you’re reading this, I hope that you are subscribed to Every Day with God in order to receive daily content that is written with the goal of making you a more devoted follower of Christ!

As you read, allow the Spirit of God to touch your heart. How can you change? In what ways can you grow in your faith?

You can trust the Bible because it is living and active (Hebrews 4:12), inspired by God and has the power to change the very landscape of your life and eternity.

How can you soften your heart even more to God’s Word?

Jake Lawson

December 18 – Importance of the Old Testament – Emptiness of Pursuing Anything Other than God

Read Jeremiah 2:9-13

“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug cisterns that cannot hold water.” (Jeremiah 2:13)

It’s like leaving Niagara Falls for a leaky, cracked water tower. Or stepping away from a freshly flowing river to find refreshment in a cracked concrete pool that barely holds a puddle. The Israelites had exchanged the very Source of water for a cracked container full of nothing but nothing.

Having loosened themselves from the only one who could provide what they needed – and that in abundance – God’s people had wandered away from Him in search of other sources of life. They tried to find the water of life in places that only proved to be broken, leaky pits at best.

Can you relate? How many times have you or I pursued what is not God in search of what only He can provide? Have you ever tried to replace the Giver and Sustainer of life with what looked like it might be enough? Maybe it’s work or a certain relationship. Maybe it’s the pursuit of all things comfort or the need for control. It might be something that in and of itself is good, like your family or your ministry. Still, the truth holds strong – pursuing anything but God Himself for real life is pointless. There is only one God. You and I can only have one master.

This is another reason the Old Testament is important. It helps us identify the emptiness of pursuing anything but God.

Nothing is better than the Source itself. Everything the Israelites tried fell short. The same rings true for you and me. Let’s turn to God and let Him be our one true source of life.

Bria Wasson

September 7 – Lament – Crying Isn’t Allowed

Read Jeremiah 1:1–10

You probably remember the words from your own childhood: “Don’t be such a crybaby.” Well-intentioned people can assume that tears are either a sign of weakness or a lack of faith in God. But God doesn’t look at crying like we do.

In fact, He says, “Weeping may endure for a night… “(Psalm 30:5b). It’s a reality of this life. Heartache happens. Pain persists. Grief grips all of us. And weeping is usually the result.

Jesus knew the agony of tears. He stood before the tomb of a dear friend and wept bitterly (John 11:35). Before his arrest, Jesus experienced “agonizing sorrow” in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-38).

Throughout Scripture, people of God openly expressed their heartache to the Lord. Jeremiah even wrote a book called, “Lamentations,” that expresses the pain he felt and is the focus of our attention for the next week. In order to appreciate Jeremiah’s heartache, we have to understand his world.

By the time Jeremiah appeared on the scene, Israel had experienced spiritual disaster. God brought judgement on His rebellious people as the United Kingdom of Saul, David, and Solomon dissolved into civil war and split into two nations: the northern kingdom called Israel and the southern kingdom called Judah. Over the reign of 19 evil kings and 209 years, the northern kingdom rebelled against God and was eventually conquered by an Assyrian ruler named Shalmanesar. The 10 tribes to the north were then scattered around the earth.

The kingdom of Judah, led by 20 different kings, lasted another century and a half, and, through the influence of some godly leaders, experienced three great revivals. Ultimately, the unfaithfulness of the people led to the conquest of the nation by the famous king, Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed Solomon’s temple, ransacked the city of Jerusalem, and carried away many Jews into captivity in Babylon.

In the years prior to the Babylonian captivity, the priests were unfaithful, the prophets hypocritical, and the politician’s self – serving. Jeremiah’s job was to stand firmly for the Lord and warn the Judeans of impending doom because of their rebellion against God. It was a humanly impossible job.

In spite of the clear call of God to this task, Jeremiah felt inadequate and reluctant (v. 6) because he was only in his late teens or early 20s. But God equipped him and gave him a clear, though difficult, message (vv. 7-9). Jeremiah’s job was to represent the heart of God to a rebellious people.

Do you ever feel inadequate to do what God has called you to do? Do you feel paralyzed at times by your own weaknesses? Have people put you down or failed to take you seriously because of your inexperience?

Remember these great words:

“God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.”

(1 Corinthians 1:27-29 NLT)

Take heart! Like Jeremiah, if you are doing the work of God, He will stand by you and reward your faithfulness.

Bob Fetterhoff

September 1 – The God Who Comes Through – He Quenches Our Thirst

Read Exodus 15:22-27 (cf. John 4:1-26 and Jeremiah 2:13)

In these verses the people were physically thirsty but didn’t have any water that was fit to drink.  Once again Moses prayed and God supplied their needs by having Moses put a piece of wood into the water to make it drinkable. God took care of their physical thirst.

However, there are more ways people can be thirsty.  There is the physical thirst, but there are also emotional and spiritual thirsts that people don’t often recognize.  There is a thirst to be accepted, to be loved, to be wanted, to be recognized.  Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount talked about people who would hunger and thirst for righteousness. With all of the complaining that the Israelites were doing to Moses, even after experiencing God’s miraculous power, maybe they were thirsty for something other than just water.

The woman at the well who met Jesus was, as the old song title says, “looking for love in all the wrong places”. She had been married 5 times and the man she was living with wasn’t her husband.  Since she was at the well in the afternoon instead of the morning like all the other women in the village would have been, she was probably rejected by them and was thirsty to be accepted. She probably put on a “good face” and pretended that their insults and looks didn’t hurt, but they did. She was emotionally thirsty!

Jesus saw through all of it and offered her living water that would quench her thirst and she would never be thirsty for love and acceptance again.

Just like Moses took the piece of a tree that God had provided out in the desert to make the water sweet again, He supplied a branch off of His own family tree, His son Jesus, to quench her spiritual thirst.

And Jesus is here to quench our thirsts, too, if we will let him.

The Lyrics of the Song Come to the Well by Casting Crowns says it all:

“I have what you need
But you keep on searchin’
I’ve done all the work
But you keep on workin’
When you’re runnin’ on empty
And you can’t find the remedy
Just come to the well

 You can spend your whole life
Chasin’ what’s missing
But that empty inside
It just ain’t gonna listen
When nothing can satisfy
And the world leaves you high and dry
Just come to the well

 And all who thirst will thirst no more
And all who search will find what their souls long for
The world will try, but it can never fill
Leave it all behind, and come to the well

So, bring me your heart
No matter how broken
Just come as you are
When your last prayer is spoken
Just rest in my arms a while
You’ll feel the change my child
When you come to the well”

What are you thirsty for? Be honest!  Leave it all behind and just come to the well of living water, take a deep drink and thirst no more!

Pat Arnold